Megan Freese, Whitehorse
Business Administration - Marketing 2004
Megan Freese has had the chance to put her business skills and experiences to good use in a variety of different settings, including a bank, the government and non-profit organizations, since receiving her Business Administration – Marketing diploma in 2004. But it’s in this last setting that the born and bred Yukoner has felt the most at home, simply because “being involved in non-profit organizations gives you an opportunity to give back to the community that you received so much from.”
She was introduced to non-profits during the year she spent as a program coordinator for Skills Canada Yukon in 2006 after which she worked as program coordinator for Sports Yukon for five years. Working at Sport Yukon was the dream job for an athlete who had participated in the Arctic Winter Games and Canada Games for Team Yukon. Freese started looking for new challenges about a year ago and chose to move back to Skills Canada Yukon, this time as the Executive Director. Her work now includes meeting with all member organizations of Skills Canada and promoting trades and technology careers around the Yukon.
Designing programming that is engaging and effective for today’s youth is one of the most important and challenging aspects of the job. The satisfaction comes from “getting to see the success of our participants, whether it is seeing someone at a skills club try a trade for the first time,” or seeing the success of competitors at local, national and world competitions.
Freese grew up in Haines Junction, a small community in the Yukon, and got to know the college during summer high school basketball camps. She had a great experience at these camps as well as during her four years at Lethbridge College. She still stays in touch with her roommates and friends from residence. “We formed a close knit family,” Freese says, “and we have managed, despite the miles, to keep in touch.”
Michelle McLarnon, Whitehorse
Engineering Design and Drafting Technology 2004
Michelle McLarnon was 34 and already had a university degree and carpentry training when she decided to go back to school. Being a mature student, she says now nine years after receiving her Engineering Design and Drafting Technology diploma, “has changed my life for the better in so many more ways than I could have imagined at the time.”
McLarnon works as a Facilities Planner with Highway and Public Works for the Yukon government and looks at the moment of going out into the job force with a diploma behind her as a turning point in her professional life. She says she was ready for all of the challenges and opportunities she faced. “The instructors at the college helped me to feel confident in my strengths and encouraged me through my two years of study,” she says. “When I left, I felt that my skills were well developed enough to pursue most anything covered in the program.”
She says she liked architectural studies the most and pursued that avenue. “I am glad that I did because it allowed me to get my first foot in the door with the Yukon Government,” she adds, “and it has allowed me to progress in my field to a position that I really enjoy.”
